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The song deals with the issue of child abuse. On a 1987 Swedish television special, Vega revealed her inspiration for writing it:

A few years ago, I used to see this group of children playing in front of my building, and there was one of them, whose name was Luka, who seemed a little bit distinctive from the other children. I always remembered his name, and I always remembered his face, and I didn't know much about him, but he just seemed set apart from these other children that I would see playing. And his character is what I based the song Luka on. In the song, the boy Luka is an abused child—in real life I don't think he was. I think he was just different.[2]

During a 2012 episode of BBC Radio 4's Mastertapes, Vega revealed that she had written a follow-up to 'Luka', from the point of view of the character as he looked back on his life.[1] The song, titled 'Song of the Stoic', would later feature on her 2014 album Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles.